Thursday, August 28, 2014

We are officially down to three weeks until the Florida Fiber In... Where has the time gone :)

I really did not get much done last night... and I am actually alright with that... I got to spent time with the boys... give them their bubble baths and tuck them into bed... then mommy pretty much just sat around, lol.

I did work on an idea that keeps coming into my brain... and I have been debating on sharing it, or waiting until the Fiber In to reveal... but I figured what the heck... why not share???

New Tatted Stitch Markers... they will never snag on your work... and the neon bear beads are just unbelievably adorable...

A close up... the camera was not really cooperating, so this was the best I could get

But, there are more than just little bears (I keep wanting to call them gummy bears, lol)...

There are skulls too...

Actually, there a couple others as well... I'm just not that fast and have not completed them yet, lol... But so far, I am loving all the colors!!!

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

I had pretty high hopes for last night... I wanted to have the batt party and work the night away... who was I kidding, lol.

I managed to finally get the boys to sleep around 9pm... which is not the best, but definitely not the worst either... I got everything set up so that I could get into "production" mode... I was doing good, was making batts, filling out cards, setting them off to the side for tying later... and then it happened...

I woke up... apparently I had failed asleep watching "Rizzoli & Isles"... fiber everywhere... and I was out cold :)

I woke up at 3am, managed to get the lights turned off, and crawl my way into bed... when the boys woke up around 7am, I could hear them yelling in the monitor that they had to go "pee-pee"... I did not want to get out of bed... but duty calls, lol.

I toke my shower, got the kids dressed, and went into the living room to tackle the mess I had made last night... it was surprisingly not that bad. I did have a small stack of batts that needed to be rolled up... and some stray fiber laying around... but overall, it was a successful night.

I got 7 batts carded... finished up the packaging this morning before work... but I can say that I did accomplish something last night... and I am proud of it!!!

The "pile" that I woke up to

Stack of Batts

One of the favorites

And the absolute favorite :)

One thing I do like to say about my batts, is that I make them crazy... and fun... you never know what the batt is going to look like on the inside... I like to call them "Surprise" or "Surprise Inside" batts for that reason... I think the main reason is that I get bored really easy... and this keeps me on my toes, lol...

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Last night was not all that productive... I actually fell asleep winding Cashmere thread for dyeing... When I woke up, I realized what I was doing, finished it up, and got it into the dye pot... then promptly passed out, lol.

I am still working on more Bamboo roving... and then starting/finishing up the Cashmere thread... The thread is so unbelievable soft... and is great for Bobbin Lace, Tatting, plying with yarn... the list goes on and on.

I know the picture looks funny... but this is 100 yards of 100% Cashmere Thread

More Bamboo Roving hanging to dry :)

And the goods... some braided bamboo roving!!!

So far, I am absolutely loving the bamboo roving... but I am planning on having a Batt Party tonight... of course it will just be me, but whatever... the boys and I will have fun creating batts :)

Also, my first cotton boll had finally "popped" open... so I may have Organic Cotton by the time of the show :)

Monday, August 25, 2014

I feel like I am losing my mind... can it be that we only have 24 days til the Fiber In??? I still can not believe it...

So, you remember that rack of Bamboo that I showed you... well most of them are alright... the other day, I walked outside to let the dogs out, figuring the boys were busy watching cartoons... boy was I wrong, lol.

When I came back inside (it was only about 10 minutes), I noticed that one of the bamboo rovings was balled up on the chair... apparently one of the boys decided that they should take it apart... and when they saw mommy coming back inside, they threw down the "evidence" and hauled butt :)

It really is not in terrible shape...

Just messed up enough that I will not sell it.

So, since I will not sell the roving in the shape it is in... I have decided that it will either be carded, blended, made into hand pulled roving, or spun into some beautiful yarn...

What is currently drying on the rack... Don't you just love the shine???

And let me tell you... I have never had an issue with letting go of the fiber that has been dyed... sometimes I want to keep everything, but I get over it... but once the bamboo is braided, I just want to keep it all... It is so shiny, and soft... and just... gorgeous!!!

SEE!!!

Lets see what I can get into tonight... tomorrow should be interesting :)

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Well, we officially have less than a month left to wait til Fiber In... I was planning on doing some creating last night... but the kids were being particularly difficult... so I figured I would finish spinning a mini test skein of bamboo instead.

A friend has offered to play around with it and give me feedback... she is a tatter... and does amazing work... so it should be interesting to see what she comes up with...

I took two little "tufts" of bamboo fiber, spun it (pretty thin) and then Andean plied it back on itself. I only got about 10 yards... but it should be enough for something awesome :)

The baby skein

And a closer pic

The fiber was Red and Turquoise... and the flash was really bringing out the luster in the bamboo... Its really soft though :)

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

So it is officially 30 days until the Florida Fiber In... and let me tell you, this time is going to fly by... I have been busy trying to beef up my inventory... but also trying to accommodate all the comments and suggestions that were given to me last year.

I heard that the Fiber In is a wonderful event, but that crocheters don't feel like they are "loved" as much as knitters... that is going to change this year... let me tell you, I have got something up my sleeve :)

Are you a tatter? Not sure what the Fiber In would have for you... come on over and see... the wheels have been turning... and there will be something for you.

Do you like exotic fiber? Just you wait... I'm telling you, it has been non stop ideas flowing through my head the last couple of months.

For some reason I have never been able to just focus on a few things... if an idea comes to me, I have to stop what I'm doing and roll with it... its not necessarily a good thing... but it is what it is... and hopefully there will be something for everyone at my booth :)

I recently decided that I needed to learn how to dye bamboo... so that is what I have been doing this week, lol.

I am hoping to have a ton of different colors to choose from... so if you have any special requests, just let me know and I will work up something to share with you :)

The bamboo roving drying...

Since I can not find my camera card (I'm pretty sure it is in my computer at home), I had to use my phone... so hopefully the pics are not too terrible.

With bamboo and other plant fibers, you have to use a fiber reactive dye and a "setter" to get the dyes to "stick" to the fiber... this process takes quite a bit longer than dyeing wool... so the bamboo sits for around 24 hours before I wash the roving and hang it to dry. Therefore I can only get so many done in the next 30 days.

Friday, August 15, 2014

When I came home from work a few days ago... I noticed that a bunch of leaves were missing off the tomato plant (which was a complete accident anyways)... and I could not for the life of me figure out what was going on...

Well, turns out we had four Tomato Hornworms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manduca_quinquemaculata) on the plant... and they were going to town, lol. Since the plant sort of showed up by accident, it really was not a big deal that they were eating it... Although it was over 6 ft. tall :)

And they don't just like the leaves :)

This is my favorite picture of them... it sounds weird... but I just want to hug him :)

They were there one day... and gone the next... so I don't really know if a bird got them, or if they just wandered away... but there are still tons of leaves and fruit on the plant.

Friday, August 1, 2014

About a month and a half ago, I did a post on spinning dog fur... It was from a Samoyed... Well I decided to start spinning it on the wheel, just because it is a little faster that way, lol.

Everything was going alright, until I started to notice my eyes itching... and small red dots on my stomach... I think I might have a slight irritation to it... which just sucks... but I'm not giving up :)

I managed to get two bobbins spun up (not full though) and plied to make some super soft, and bright white yarn...

2-ply 100% Samoyed Yarn

Wound onto a 1 yard knitty noddy

Another pic

And just a little closer, lol.

And the skein!!! - Unwashed

The skein is not huge by any means... but it is 50 yards of worsted weight... and 100% Samoyed fiber... I did not remove the "guard hairs", because to me, it gives the yarn a little more "dimension".

I washed the finished skein and set the twist... Once its dry, the plan is to create a couple little unique pieces for the owner... be sure to check back for progress :)

About Me

Mom of twin boys... They are four at the moment and always getting into everything :) Inbetween work, kids, and animals, I try and find time to be creative... Right now I am really loving processing fleece. I have been getting fleece from different farms all over the country (and some overseas)... I then wash everything in my home, dye, and process it into roving, batts, or handspun yarn :)